Titans
The Titans were the race of deities who ruled the world before the Olympian Gods came to existence. They were the ones who aided Kratos in his quest for vengeance against Zeus but they became the secondary group of antagonists upon Gaia's betrayal. Greek Mythology In Greek mythology, the Titans (Τιτάν) were a race of extremely powerful and physically huge deities that ruled the world during the legendary Golden Age of Mankind. They were the children of Gaia and Ouranos. There were 12 original Titans, the males being known as the Titans (Oceanus, Coeus, Kreios, Hyperion, Lapetus, and Cronos) and the females as the Titanides (Rhea, Theia/Thera, Phoebe, Mnemosyne, Themis and Tethys). They were ruled by the youngest Titan, Cronos, who overthrew Ouranos with the aid of Gaia (who crafted his sickle) and his brothers (not Oceanus) and Typhon, Titan God of Wind Storm and son of Tartarus and Gaia. Later, several of the Titans also produced offspring which were also Titans. These Titans included the children of Oceanus (the Potamoi and Oceanids), the children of Coeus (the Coeides: Leto, Asteria and Lelantos), the children of Kreios (the Creionides: Astraeus, Pallas and Perses) , the children of Hyperion (the Hyperionides: Helios, Eos and Selene), the children of Iapetus (the Iapetionides: Atlas, Menoetius, Prometheus, and Epimetheus). The Titans preceded the Olympian Gods who, led by Zeus, eventually overthrew them in the Titanomachy. The Titans were then imprisoned in Tartarus, the deepest and darkest pit of the Underworld. Only a few Titans (such as Prometheus, Oceanus) were spared that fate. Atlas, who led the Titans in the Titanomachy, was forced to hold the sky (Ouranos) upon his shoulders, fore the sky was greatly damaged in the war and couldn't support itself and also because of the death of the sky (Ouranus). In the God of War Series Birth and Fate .]] In the beginning, there was darkness. The Titans were born on the Island of Creation, home to the Sisters of Fate and controllers of time. Themis was born of Gaia, who became the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom, giving the Titans a purpose to be a part of the world. The rest of the world was created by the Titans and Cronos was given the title as ruler. However, it was prophesized that one day Cronos would be overthrown by his very children, just as Uranus had been years before. In an attempt to sway the Sisters into his favor, Cronos gifted them with the Steeds of Time. The Sisters refused to change his fate and the fate that would also haunt the Titans forever. Cronos began devouring his children one by one so that the prophecy may not come true. His wife, Rhea, could not bear another such loss and hid the sixth and final child on an island far away from the watchful eyes of her husband. Cronos foolishly swallowed a rock wrapped in cloth in the baby's place. The child who escaped his siblings’ fate was Zeus, who was raised by his grandmother Gaia herself to nurture his desire to free his brothers and sisters from their prison. When the day came and Zeus had become a young man, he freed his siblings from their cruel father and the Great War began. The Great War The Titans believed that they had to win or the Gods would make the mortals suffer, caring only for control and power. The Titans Prometheus and Helios (In the mythology Epimetheus also joined the Olympians, which isn't the case in the game) joined the Gods in the battle against the Titans, betraying their very own. The Titans were led by the great Atlas, who saved Cronos, the latter was about to have his soul consumed by the hands of Hades, by hurtling rocks and causing earthquakes toward the God. In Cronos' place Atlas was captured by Hades with the help of Poseidon, but the battle continued. Mountains were hurled like mere pebbles, and the ground shook from massive earthquakes. The war between the Titans and the Gods forged the landscape of the mortal world. Eventually, Zeus created the Blade of Olympus, and used its immense magical power to send the Titans to the foulest pits of the Underworld – Tartarus. This ended the Great War, and the gods established their domain upon Mount Olympus, being worshiped by the mortals who begged for their mercy and guidance. The Golden Age had indeed ended. .]]In Tartarus, the Titans would be tortured or trapped for all eternity (despite Cronos being the one who caused the great war) with the Gauntlet of Zeus being created to chain and bind them. One of the Titans chained to the walls of Tartarus with this method that Kratos encounters was Hyperion. Cronos suffered the fate of wandering the Desert of Lost Souls with Pandora's Temple chained to his back until the strength of the whirling winds and sands ripped his flesh from his bones. Aegaeon was transformed into a living prison for oathbreakers by the Furies for breaking his oath to Zeus to fight alongside the Gods with the other Hecatonchires. The Titan Typhon was imprisoned within an enormous mountain. On the same mountain as Prometheus, because of betraying Zeus and giving the mortals the fires of Olympus, was forced to endure the pain of having his liver eaten everyday by a large eagle only to suffer the fate again and again. The great Titan Atlas was to hold the world of the living on his shoulders, his hands chained to the earth though Kratos broke one of the chains, releasing him from some of the pain. Kratos' Encounter With Cronos Athena instructed Kratos to journey to the Desert of Lost Souls where the Titan Cronos crawled with Pandora’s Temple upon his back. The Titan showed no notice of him as Kratos climbed a mountain leading to the temple for three days, while Cronos was still crawling pitifully across the harsh desert wasteland with the wind blowing in his face. The mighty Titan walked in the desert for millennia until Kratos retrieved Pandora's Box. They would later meet at the Steeds of Time (A holograph of Cronos). The Titan was later sent to Tartarus with the temple chained to his back. The Prisoner of Atlantis Within the volcanic mountain outside of Atlantis, the lava titan, Thera, was imprisoned and she appears to be the core of the volcanic activity. There, Kratos was informed by her that his arrival was foretold by Gaia and pleaded to be released or they would both remain prisoners of their own torments. Kratos hurled his blades into Thera's chest, thus receiving the power of Thera's Bane and setting Thera free, who then started tearing down her chains as the spartan left the chamber, leaving destruction in her wake. As the volcano erupted, she was seen rising out of her captivity in the distance, though what became of Thera remains unknown. It's likely that Thera, along with the other Titans, joined Kratos in his assault against the gods and was killed during the battle. Alliance with Kratos Kratos was saved by Gaia's guidance while he was being taken to the Underworld. She told Kratos that Zeus would have to be destroyed in order for there to be any hope for Kratos. With her voice whispering into Kratos' ear, the powerful warrior traveled to the mountain where Typhon and Prometheus rested. Typhon, bound to his mountainous prison, refused to help the former Olympian. Typhon tried blowing Kratos off of the cliffs where he walked, hoping he would fall to his death. Kratos managed to obtain Typhon's Bane by stabbing Typhon's eye, blinding him. Kratos also released Prometheus from his torment by burning him to death in a fiery pit, granting him the power of the Rage of the Titans. Cronos gifted Kratos with the last of his magic while traveling with the Steeds of Time. This magic was known as Cronos' Rage. Kratos also fell into the grasp of the mighty Titan Atlas, who gifted him with the knowledge of the Great War and the powerful Atlas Quake. With all of his powers and gifts, Kratos defeated the Sisters of Fate and traveled back in time to the final minutes of the Great War. He saved the Titans from being banished and brought them into his time. There, he and the Titans climbed Mount Olympus to finally rid the mortals of the petty gods once and for all. The mortals were terrified, but there was nowhere to run or hide from the brutal battle. Second Titanomachy With the Second Titanomachy having begun, the Olympians immediately leapt into battle against the Titans climbing up Mount Olympus. Helios, Hermes, Hercules, and Hades engaged the Titans head on, while Poseidon waits with Zeus. Hades in his giant form would use his Claws to dislodge the Titan Oceanus as he was making his way up the mountain. Poseidon then entered the fray by leaping off the top of Olympus, he targeted the Titan Epimetheus and blasted through his chest, killing him instantly and knocking him off the mountain into the waters below. With the help of his Hippocampi, which erupted from the water, Poseidon pulled at least one more Titan off Mount Olympus before reaching Kratos and Gaia, in the form of a colossal watery construct. After a long and hard struggle, Kratos and Gaia combined their efforts, managing to kill the God of the Sea, with the Spartan gouging his eyes and snapping his neck. Victorious from their battle with Poseidon, Kratos and Gaia reached Zeus, who then summoned a lightning bolt to blast them off the mountain, resulting in Kratos falling into the Underworld, though not before learning that he was just a pawn for Gaia which made the Titans his new enemies along with the Gods. After killing Hades and escaping the Underworld, Kratos happened upon a wounded Gaia who praised the Spartan for surviving his fall, stating "The blood of Cronos serves you well". She then pleaded with him for help but he cuts the vines of Gaia's damaged hand. When she pleads to him by asking if she meant anything to him, Kratos responded in a form of cruel irony that Gaia was his pawn as she stated she must face Zeus so the Titans may have their vengeance on the Gods. However, Kratos stated the war against the gods was his war not hers. For her earlier betrayal, he uses the Blade of Olympus and cuts the remaining vine to her hand causing her to fall off the mountain to her supposed demise. as Perses looks on]] Later in the war-torn city of Olympia, Helios was still engaged in combat with the Titan Perses when Kratos reached the site of the battle. With the help of a Ballista, Kratos knocked Helios and his chariot into the grasp of Perses, who crushed and tossed the Sun God across the city. Perses then proceeded to rampage throughout the city while Kratos continued onward with his own agenda and decapitated the Sun God with his bare hands. Once he made his way through an Icarus Vent, Kratos came across Perses again, who tried to kill him, as possible retribution for what Kratos had done to Gaia. Kratos managed to shun the attack of the Titan, then pulled out the Blade of Olympus and impaled Perses' left eye before causing an explosion, blasting the Titan's face. Perses fell off the mountain once again, only this time, it seemed very unlikely he would have survived the fall as he is never seen again. When sent by Hephaestus on a suicide mission to find the Omphalos Stone in Tartarus, Kratos stumbled onto the fallen hand of Gaia before encountering his grandfather: Cronos. Enraged at his very presence and for supposedly killing Gaia, Cronos made an attempt to kill his grandson, losing a few finger nails to Kratos in the process. After battling against the massive Titan, Cronos managed to swallow Kratos, which proved to be a fatal mistake as the Spartan proceeded to cut his way out using the Blade of Olympus, spilling Cronos' intestines in the process. Kratos then proceeded to kill Cronos with the Blade of Olympus before returning to Hephaestus with the Omphalos Stone to craft the Nemesis Whip. During the final battle between him and Zeus, Kratos encountered Gaia, who managed to mostly regrow her lost hand to climb back up the mountain, one last time when she interrupted the fight between father and son. Declaring that "the reign of Olympus ends here" upon her return, Gaia then expresses anger towards Kratos and the Gods as her world "bleeds" because of them. Revealing that she never sought Kratos' death, Gaia proclaims that the Spartan has left her no other choice; Zeus took this moment to comment that Kratos has failed her and that she should have chosen the other one instead. Angered by this defiance, Gaia simply replied that "father and son will die together" and crushed the Shrine of Olympus in her hands. Zeus and Kratos leapt into a large gaping wound in her chest caused earlier by Poseidon's Hippocampi and found their way to her heart, where Kratos proceeded to shatter its defenses, and drew energy from the Titan, causing her immense pain. The battle resumed when Zeus made his appearance and continued until Kratos stabbed Zeus with the Blade of Olympus and ran him through Gaia's heart, killing her as her body dissolving collapsed onto Olympus, leaving only large chunks of earth, and some withered trees and branches behind. With the deaths of all the other Titans, the only remaining Titan is possibly Atlas as he is left holding the world on his shoulders at Pillar of the World, Typhon's fate is largely unknown. Appearance Physical The Titans are as large as mountains and appear to be mostly elemental. Though they are evidently not very physically beautiful in any way with few exceptions, they possess immense physical strength and stamina. The Olympians appear more civilized and human than the Titans, whereas the Titans appear more ancient, earthly, and elemental. However, this is not applied to all Titans, as Rhea, Prometheus, Eos and Helios look more human, and share the human's common figure and overall height and appearance (though the latter two were Titans that helped the Olympians and may have transformed to their current appearance). In-Game There are numerous Titans who make various appearances throughout the entire ''God of War'' series. These are a few: *Gaia: (Deceased) The Primordial Goddess of the Earth and the mother and grandmother of all of The Titans. Also their current leader. *Ouranos: (Deceased) The Primordial God of the Sky and the father and grandfather of all of The Titans. *Atlas: The Titan that was forced to carry the Sky on his shoulders. Also, he was new emperor of the Titans in the events of the Great War. He was the Titan of Endurance. *Cronos: (Deceased) The Father of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Hera, Hestia, and Demeter. He is the former Emperor of the Titans and Titan of Time and Harvest. *Hyperion: (Presumed Deceased) The father of Helios, Eos, and Selene. He is the Titan of Light. *Selene: The daughter of Hyperion, and sister of Helios and Eos. She is the Titaness-goddess of the Moon, Night and Birth. *Eos: (Presumed Deceased) The daughter of Hyperion and sister of Helios and Selene. She is the Titaness-goddess of Dawn, Dew, Morning Red and Frost. *Oceanus: (Deceased) The Oceanic Titan seen climbing Mt. Olympus in "God of War III." He is the divine personification of the "World Ocean" and the Titan of Water and Ocean. *Prometheus: (Deceased) The Titan of Foresight and Forethought, forced to bear the pain of having his liver eaten every day by an eagle after giving fire to mankind. *Rhea: The mother of the first Olympians, the wife of Cronos, and Queen of the Titans. She was the Titaness of Motherhood and Earthly Elements. *Typhon: The Titan-Giant of Wind and Storm, who is punished by Zeus by trapping him underneath a large mountain. *Perses: (Deceased) The Titan of Destruction. *Epimetheus: The Titan of Hindsight and Afterthought *Thera: The Titaness of Lava, who is trapped inside a volcano in Atlantis. *Iapetus: Ancestor of all of Mortal races. *Polyphemus: (Deceased) A gigantic Cyclops, son of Poseidon, referred to as a Titan. *Gyges: (Deceased) One of the Hecantonchires, sons of Gaia and Ouranos and brothers of the Titans, though not Titans themselves. *Aegaeon: (Deceased) Another Hecatonchire. Turned into a prison for the living damned by The Furies for breaking his blood oath with Zeus. *Python: (Deceased) The Titan-Serpent son of Gaia and by the blood of Ouranos, slain by the god Apollo in Delphi. Powers The main powers that all Titans possessed are superhuman strength, superhuman stamina, superhuman durability, immortality and regenerative abilities. Some of the Titans may also possess some form of energy projection and the power to control and manipulate the elements which they embody. Oceanus and Perses seem to be covered in their respective elements, Oceanus being covered in Water and Lightning, and Perses is covered in Lava implying that they both could manipulate those elements. Gaia could also possess the power over Earth and possibly over the life on it. They seem to possess shape-shifting ability, since the Titans Rhea, Helios, Prometheus and Eos fully resemble human beings in size, height and beauty. Given that their fellow Titans didn't look appealing at all, so it can be assumed that they prefer a more attractive human form, and assume their appearance. However, it is unknown what powers Rhea, mother of the six original Olympians, possesses, as she hasn't displayed her own powers in the series, as well as her current status and location being unknown, though it is likely she is deceased or living somewhere far away. They also seem to have awareness over the events that happen in the corresponding element that they embody in the world. For example, Gaia saw all the events that happened to Kratos and was able to talk to him despite not being present at the time. The same happens with other Titans like Prometheus and Typhon, who had some knowledge about Kratos eventhough they were both isolated in a mountain. Gallery 932295 20070312 screen041.jpg|Prometheus Atlas.jpg|Atlas God of war 3-1084840.jpg|Perses Gow2-gaia.jpg|Gaia Gow2-titan.jpg|Typhon Kronos 1.png|Cronos Rhea and zeus.jpg|Rhea Shackles of Hyperion.jpg|Hyperion TitanConcept.jpg|Epimetheus Untitled 18.png|Oceanus Titan02.jpg Untitled 43432.png AtlasorTyphon.jpg typhonconcept.jpg godofwar3firetitanconceptart.jpg Untitled 123.png Epimetheus.png|Epimetheus falling to his death. Gow3-cronos-1-.jpg|Cronos attempting to kill Kratos. de:Titanen Category:Immortals Category:God of War Series Category:God of War: Chains of Olympus Category:God of War Category:God of War: Ghost of Sparta Category:God of War II Category:God of War III Category:God of War Collection Category:God of War Origins Collection Category:God of War: Saga Collection Category:The Great War Category:Greek Mythology Category:Deceased